Tom Seaver Stats | Baseball Prospectus

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Tom Seaver PMets

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Career Summary

Years	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	WARP
20	656	4783	311	205	1	2.86	110.5

Birth Date	11-17-1944
Height	6' 1"
Weight	205 lbs

Age	79 years, 5 months, 6 days
Bats	R
Throws	R

WARP Summary

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MLB Statistics

Historical (past-seasons) WARP is now based on DRA..
cFIP and DRA are not available on a by-team basis and display as zeroes(0). See TOT line for season totals of these stats.
Multiple stints are are currently shown —Click to hide.

YEAR	Team	Lg	G	GS	IP	W	L	SV	H	BB	SO	HR	PPF	H/9	BB/9	HR/9	K/9	GB%	BABIP	WHIP	FIP	ERA	cFIP	DRA	DRA-	WARP
1967	NYN	MLB	35	34	251.0	16	13	0	224	78	170	19	99	8.0	2.8	0.7	6.1	0%	.271	1.20	3.28	2.76	101	4.01	106.6	1.1
1968	NYN	MLB	36	35	278.0	16	12	1	224	48	205	15	89	7.3	1.6	0.5	6.6	0%	.257	0.98	2.38	2.20	82	2.42	70.7	5.7
1969	NYN	MLB	36	35	273.3	25	7	0	202	82	208	24	98	6.7	2.7	0.8	6.8	0%	.232	1.04	3.25	2.21	86	2.79	68.2	6.3
1970	NYN	MLB	37	36	290.7	18	12	0	230	83	283	21	96	7.1	2.6	0.7	8.8	0%	.267	1.08	2.73	2.82	63	2.56	58.8	8.4
1971	NYN	MLB	36	35	286.3	20	10	0	210	61	289	18	97	6.6	1.9	0.6	9.1	0%	.263	0.95	2.02	1.76	51	1.97	50.5	9.0
1972	NYN	MLB	35	35	262.0	21	12	0	215	77	249	23	95	7.4	2.6	0.8	8.6	0%	.272	1.11	2.70	2.92	73	2.31	62.6	6.5
1973	NYN	MLB	36	36	290.0	19	10	0	219	64	251	23	97	6.8	2.0	0.7	7.8	0%	.243	0.98	2.54	2.08	64	2.23	52.7	8.9
1974	NYN	MLB	32	32	236.0	11	11	0	199	75	201	19	100	7.6	2.9	0.7	7.7	0%	.274	1.16	2.91	3.20	65	2.49	60.2	6.4
1975	NYN	MLB	36	36	280.3	22	9	0	217	88	243	11	95	7.0	2.8	0.4	7.8	0%	.268	1.09	2.37	2.38	62	2.29	54.2	8.5
1976	NYN	MLB	35	34	271.0	14	11	0	211	77	235	14	92	7.0	2.6	0.5	7.8	0%	.263	1.06	2.48	2.59	64	2.12	53.1	8.2
1977	CIN	0	20	20	165.3	14	3	0	120	38	124	12	101	6.5	2.1	0.7	6.8	0%	.231	0.96	2.86	2.34	84	2.40	53.5	5.3
1977	NYN	0	13	13	96.0	7	3	0	79	28	72	7	92	7.4	2.6	0.7	6.8	0%	.254	1.11	3.05	3.00	80	2.28	50.9	3.2
1978	CIN	MLB	36	36	259.7	16	14	0	218	89	226	26	103	7.6	3.1	0.9	7.8	0%	.262	1.18	3.21	2.88	76	2.57	62.0	6.9
1979	CIN	MLB	32	32	215.0	16	6	0	187	61	131	16	99	7.8	2.6	0.7	5.5	0%	.259	1.15	3.29	3.14	82	2.91	64.8	5.6
1980	CIN	MLB	26	26	168.0	10	8	0	140	59	101	24	103	7.5	3.2	1.3	5.4	0%	.229	1.18	4.46	3.64	103	3.21	74.7	3.5
1981	CIN	MLB	23	23	166.3	14	2	0	120	66	87	10	99	6.5	3.6	0.5	4.7	0%	.218	1.12	3.65	2.54	103	3.29	82.4	2.9
1982	CIN	MLB	21	21	111.3	5	13	0	136	44	62	14	102	11.0	3.6	1.1	5.0	0%	.323	1.62	4.53	5.50	98	4.30	100.0	1.0
1983	NYN	MLB	34	34	231.0	9	14	0	201	86	135	18	97	7.8	3.4	0.7	5.3	0%	.255	1.24	3.68	3.55	98	3.01	69.5	5.8
1984	CHA	MLB	34	33	236.7	15	11	0	216	61	131	27	99	8.2	2.3	1.0	5.0	0%	.250	1.17	3.92	3.95	108	4.08	95.3	2.7
1985	CHA	MLB	35	33	238.7	16	11	0	223	69	134	22	98	8.4	2.6	0.8	5.1	0%	.264	1.22	3.78	3.17	100	4.20	96.5	2.9
1986	BOS	0	16	16	104.3	5	7	0	114	29	72	8	101	9.8	2.5	0.7	6.2	0%	.313	1.37	3.29	3.80	104	4.74	106.9	0.7
1986	CHA	0	12	12	72.0	2	6	0	66	27	31	9	98	8.3	3.4	1.1	3.9	0%	.241	1.29	4.88	4.38	103	4.19	94.5	1.0
1977	TOT	MLB	33	33	261.3	21	6	0	199	66	196	19	98	6.9	2.3	0.7	6.8	0%	.000	1.01	2.93	2.58	82	2.36	52.5	8.5
1986	TOT	MLB	28	28	176.3	7	13	0	180	56	103	17	100	9.2	2.9	0.9	5.3	0%	.000	1.34	3.94	4.03	104	4.51	101.9	1.7
Career		MLB	656	647	4783.0	311	205	1	3971	1390	3640	380	97	7.5	2.6	0.7	6.8	50%	.259	1.12	3.08	2.86	81	2.87	69.6	110.5

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

YEAR	Team	Lg	LG	G	GS	IP	W	L	SV	H	BB	SO	HR	PPF	H/9	BB/9	HR/9	K/9	GB%	BABIP	WHIP	FIP	ERA	cFIP	DRA	DRA-
1967	NYN	MLB	NL	35	34	251.0	16	13	0	224	78	170	19	99	8.0	2.8	0.7	6.1	0%	.271	1.20	3.28	2.76	101	4.01	106.6
1968	NYN	MLB	NL	36	35	278.0	16	12	1	224	48	205	15	89	7.3	1.6	0.5	6.6	0%	.257	0.98	2.38	2.20	82	2.42	70.7
1969	NYN	MLB	NL	36	35	273.3	25	7	0	202	82	208	24	98	6.7	2.7	0.8	6.8	0%	.232	1.04	3.25	2.21	86	2.79	68.2
1970	NYN	MLB	NL	37	36	290.7	18	12	0	230	83	283	21	96	7.1	2.6	0.7	8.8	0%	.267	1.08	2.73	2.82	63	2.56	58.8
1971	NYN	MLB	NL	36	35	286.3	20	10	0	210	61	289	18	97	6.6	1.9	0.6	9.1	0%	.263	0.95	2.02	1.76	51	1.97	50.5
1972	NYN	MLB	NL	35	35	262.0	21	12	0	215	77	249	23	95	7.4	2.6	0.8	8.6	0%	.272	1.11	2.70	2.92	73	2.31	62.6
1973	NYN	MLB	NL	36	36	290.0	19	10	0	219	64	251	23	97	6.8	2.0	0.7	7.8	0%	.243	0.98	2.54	2.08	64	2.23	52.7
1974	NYN	MLB	NL	32	32	236.0	11	11	0	199	75	201	19	100	7.6	2.9	0.7	7.7	0%	.274	1.16	2.91	3.20	65	2.49	60.2
1975	NYN	MLB	NL	36	36	280.3	22	9	0	217	88	243	11	95	7.0	2.8	0.4	7.8	0%	.268	1.09	2.37	2.38	62	2.29	54.2
1976	NYN	MLB	NL	35	34	271.0	14	11	0	211	77	235	14	92	7.0	2.6	0.5	7.8	0%	.263	1.06	2.48	2.59	64	2.12	53.1
1977	CIN	MLB	NL	20	20	165.3	14	3	0	120	38	124	12	101	6.5	2.1	0.7	6.8	0%	.231	0.96	2.86	2.34	84	2.40	53.5
1977	NYN	MLB	NL	13	13	96.0	7	3	0	79	28	72	7	92	7.4	2.6	0.7	6.8	0%	.254	1.11	3.05	3.00	80	2.28	50.9
1978	CIN	MLB	NL	36	36	259.7	16	14	0	218	89	226	26	103	7.6	3.1	0.9	7.8	0%	.262	1.18	3.21	2.88	76	2.57	62.0
1979	CIN	MLB	NL	32	32	215.0	16	6	0	187	61	131	16	99	7.8	2.6	0.7	5.5	0%	.259	1.15	3.29	3.14	82	2.91	64.8
1980	CIN	MLB	NL	26	26	168.0	10	8	0	140	59	101	24	103	7.5	3.2	1.3	5.4	0%	.229	1.18	4.46	3.64	103	3.21	74.7
1981	CIN	MLB	NL	23	23	166.3	14	2	0	120	66	87	10	99	6.5	3.6	0.5	4.7	0%	.218	1.12	3.65	2.54	103	3.29	82.4
1982	CIN	MLB	NL	21	21	111.3	5	13	0	136	44	62	14	102	11.0	3.6	1.1	5.0	0%	.323	1.62	4.53	5.50	98	4.30	100.0
1983	NYN	MLB	NL	34	34	231.0	9	14	0	201	86	135	18	97	7.8	3.4	0.7	5.3	0%	.255	1.24	3.68	3.55	98	3.01	69.5
1984	CHA	MLB	AL	34	33	236.7	15	11	0	216	61	131	27	99	8.2	2.3	1.0	5.0	0%	.250	1.17	3.92	3.95	108	4.08	95.3
1985	CHA	MLB	AL	35	33	238.7	16	11	0	223	69	134	22	98	8.4	2.6	0.8	5.1	0%	.264	1.22	3.78	3.17	100	4.20	96.5
1986	BOS	MLB	AL	16	16	104.3	5	7	0	114	29	72	8	101	9.8	2.5	0.7	6.2	0%	.313	1.37	3.29	3.80	104	4.74	106.9
1986	CHA	MLB	AL	12	12	72.0	2	6	0	66	27	31	9	98	8.3	3.4	1.1	3.9	0%	.241	1.29	4.88	4.38	103	4.19	94.5

Plate Discipline

YEAR	Pits	Zone%	Swing%	Contact%	Z-Swing%	O-Swing%	Z-Contact%	O-Contact%	SwStr%

Injury History — No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On	Date Off	Transaction	Days	Games	Side	Body Part	Injury	Severity	Surgery Date	Reaggravation
1986-05-18	1986-06-04	15-DL	17	15	Left	Shoulder	Inflammation		-	-
1980-07-01	1980-08-04		34	33	Left	Shoulder	Inflammation		-	-

Compensation

Year	Team	Salary

Service Time	Agent	Contract Status

Details
1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976. 1 year/$136,000 (1975). 1 year/$170,000 (1974). At signing, highest-paid pitcher in history. 1 year/$140,000 (1973). 1972 1971 1970 1969 1 year/$25,000 (1968) 1 year/$13,500 (1967). Signed by NY Mets 1966 as an amateur free agent. $50,000 signing bonus.

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT	W	L	SV	G	GS	IP	H	BB	SO	HR	BABIP	WHIP	ERA	DRA	VORP	WARP
Weighted Mean	?	?	?	?	?	0.0	?	0	0	?	.000	0.00	0.00	?	0.0	0.0

Comparable Players (Similarity Index )

Rank	Score	Name	Year	Run Average	Trend

BP Annual Player Comments

No BP Book Comments have been found for this player.

BP Articles

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BP Chats

Date	Question	Answer
2015-07-23 17:00:00 (link to chat)	Hey Mike what were your too 5 batting stances to imitate on the sand lot when you were a kid? You do the Julio Franco? The Andre Dawson straight leg? The Youkilis slide? The Craig counsel tower?...what should the kids be imitating from today's game? (Classberg from Chicago)	I was a pitching guy when I was a kid. I loved emulating Fernando's crazy windup, Ron Guidry, and Tom Seaver. (Mike Gianella)
2013-06-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Tom Seaver or Bob Gibson? (Scrapper from Still here)	Seaver for the rest of 2013; Gibson for 2014 and beyond (Paul Sporer)
2012-08-01 13:00:00 (link to chat)	What's your favorite baseball memory? (Ida from Pasadena, CA)	Thanks for your questions Ida, I live in the same town! Easily my greatest baseball memory is August 4, 1985, when Tom Seaver won his 300th game at a sold-out Yankee Stadium. It was Tom's first attempt at winning 300, and it could not have been scripted any better. I was traveling with the club during that period of my career, and had developed a great relationship with Seaver, so it meant even more to me. We got off the bus and a fan screamed out, "Hey Seaver, I hope you break your arm out there today" and Tom was right next to me. It broke the ice for him, as he let out his signature laugh and yelled back "Thanks for all your support." It was Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium and all the great Yankees were in attendance like DiMaggio. New York baseball fans, who loved him during all those years with the Mets, were incredibly supportive throughout the game, and the old Stadium was electric due to his quest and the great Yankee oldtimers in pre-game. Pitching coach Dave Duncan came out to the mound in the later innings, and was greeted with boos from the crowd, but Tony La Russa was never going to take out Seaver unless he had to, it was his game to lose. Tom threw a complete game at age 40, which was amazing in itself, and it was such a perfect moment. We had a closed clubhouse afterwards for a few minutes after the game as Tom composed himself, and his class came out as he had a game-used baseball from #300 for every member of the traveling party. The players had such immense respect for him as he was such a great mind and had such an amazing career. I'll likely never be able to duplicate that afternoon. (Dan Evans)
2011-01-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hi Jay! greetings from your southern-most follower (unless someone in the southern island of NZ is also out there?) Quick question, who would be the 5 charter members of the Baseball HoF if it was founded today? (Guillermo from Montevideo, Uruguay)	Hey Guillermo! I think if you were to start today, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Cy Young would be four of those five. I'm not sure who the fifth would be, though - probably another pitcher. Maybe Tom Seaver given that he had the highest vote percentage of all time. (Jay Jaffe)
2010-05-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Who gets into the HOF on the first ballot with a higher percentage of votes, Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter? I think even those voters with anti-closer bias are going to agree with Mo's inclusion, eh? Tough call. (tommybones from brooklyn)	I don't think I'm going out too far on a limb by saying that either of these guys could challenge Tom Seaver's 98.84% record vote. The closer thing is more likely to work against Mo, but any writer who doesn't think both of those two are Hallworthy should be considered a fraud. (Jay Jaffe)
2008-10-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hi Steve, Thanks for chatting. Speaking of the 1969 Mets, they were, of course, led by Tom Seaver, whom they acquired by pulling his name out of a hat. How should have the commissioner handled the case to Seaver's rights back then? (ripfan008 from Baltimore)	And we're back... The whole Seaver situation was kind of a joke, a crazy catch-22. The Braves made Seaver a #1 pick in 1966, but the contract was voided because USC had started its exhibition season by the time the deal went through - not that Seaver had played, although he had worked out with the team (IIRC). Simultaneously, the NCAA ruled Seaver ineligible because he had signed a pro contract. He had nowhere to go. Baseball's solution was a lottery for Seaver. The weird thing about it was that only three teams asked for a shot, the Mets, the Phillies, and the Indians. Oddly, the Braves quit on Seaver at that point. The contract should never have been voided in the first place... (Steven Goldman)
2008-02-28 14:00:00 (link to chat)	Christina, great work over the offseason, as always. My question is about roster construction, and specifically the hitter/pitcher divide. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were mocking the Rockies and/or Don Baylor for taking 12 pitchers, but at least it was mildly defensible on the grounds that they needed extra arms to throw in Coors Field. Now we're at a point where almost everyone is at a 13/12 divide. What the heck happened, and what do you think are the chances of some squad going back to 15/10 simply by employing 2 good long men in the pen at all times? (ElAngelo from New York, NY)	Baylor's mistake was that he made that choice for a post-season roster. While I would like to see more teams invest the roster space in observing one of Earl Weaver's rules and put their young starters in long relief roles, and thereby save themselves multiple spots sunk on multiple situational playthings in the pen, you could also save roster space by effectively committing to a four-man rotation that exploits the fact that we're in a world that doesn't have doubleheaders and a schedule that features plenty of off-days to reduce the fifth slot to a sometime thing. That might mean shorter starts for the front four, and it might not, but I think we're at a point where the industry has probably overcorrected, costing us the next Jack Morris or Tom Seaver. You could also expand your roster by not resorting to Eck-style closer usage patterns--make the money pitcher for the endgame something more than a sundae's cherry, and you'll get more quality innings. Condition them to be Eck-style closers, and you're investing a roster spot on a single-purpose single-inning reliever, forcing you to commit to 11 at the outset, and making 12 seems plausible. Now, to be fair to major league managers, managing pitching staffs involves anticipating a lot of different scenarios, not all of them happy, and committing resources in the form of those roster spots. But it can also mean not giving lineups the same depth of consideration, because you know you'll have nine guys out there, and beyond someone who can play the corners, someone who can play the outfield, and someone who can catch, you figure you're covered. It's not the way I look at the problem of in-game tactics or in-season operations, but I was reading Earl Weaver's books at an impressionable age. (Christina Kahrl)

BP Roundtables

Date	Roundtable Name	Comment
2010-10-06 10:00:00	2010 Playoffs Day One	I can never let go of the fact that the Mets didn't protect Tom Seaver after '83 because they wanted to leave room for Ron Gardenhire on the roster. (Steven Goldman)
2009-10-15 17:00:00	2009 NLCS Game One (Phillies/Dodgers)	Aaron W. (Kentucky): Re: Joe's question, in the '69 NLCS Niekro faced Tom Seaver. That's 264 post-69 wins for Niekro plus 254 for Seaver. 518 put together Blast, I had half of it. Still, Joe said YOUNG starter. Knucksie doesn't count. Maybe there was a Spahn-Ford game in '57 or '58 that yields a pretty good total. (Steven Goldman)